


A World Not Quite Her Own

by SonofSallyJackson (thecompletebookworm)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Estelle centric, Gen, I just don't want to clog their tags, other characters also appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24696517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecompletebookworm/pseuds/SonofSallyJackson
Summary: Estelle Blofis had never lived in a world without monsters.  Many people in this world would have been driven mad by this knowledge. But for Estelle, it was a simple fact of the universe like humans need air to survive, or blue chocolate chip cookies are the best dessert.  Maybe knowing about monsters should have made her scared, but all it did was show her the heroes who would always come in and save the day.(This should probably be a one-shot, but instead, it has three chapters Heroes, Gods and Monsters because I got too excited about this project to wait to post it.)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Estelle Blofis & Percy Jackson, Paul Blofis/Sally Jackson
Comments: 7
Kudos: 87





	A World Not Quite Her Own

**Author's Note:**

> So here it is, my first foray into the Percy Jackson fandom despite being obsessed with the books when I was in elementary/middle school. This started as my take on Estelle’s childhood (stopping around age 11, since that’s already pretty far in the future) and somehow ended up with a Percabeth wedding scene among other things. 
> 
> I’ve had a host of health issues and college that have prevented me from writing in general, so I apologize for my rustiness (and un-beta-edness, as I am brand new to the fandom).

Estelle Blofis had never lived in a world without monsters. Many people in this world would have been driven mad by this knowledge. But for Estelle, it was a simple fact of the universe like humans need air to survive, or blue chocolate chip cookies are the best dessert. Maybe knowing about monsters should have made her scared, but all it did was show her the heroes who would always come in and save the day.

Many of those heroes made the best babysitters.

Sally always let out a sigh of relief when Grover was in town. The Lord of the Wild didn’t even grumble good-naturedly as he took on his excitable charge for the day. Grover didn’t need the promise of Sally’s seven-layer bean dip or the collection of recycling curated for maximum crunch to make it through their outings. He had always wanted to teach humans to appreciate the wild, treasure it, and protect it. Grover might not be able to teach all humans, but he certainly could teach Estelle. They sat in an isolated corner of Central Park together, occasionally bothered by druids, but mostly it was just the two of them. They would sit directly in the grass, Estelle’s orange tutu and rainboots regardless of the weather stretched out next to hairy legs that Grover mostly didn’t bother to cover anymore. While Estelle likely fidgeted just as much as she listened (spinning breaks were deemed a necessity after a single outing), she did listen to him. Grover was the best at answering questions and like any small child, Estelle had a lot of questions. So as she grew, Estelle sang hi to the individual trees on walks with her parents and proclaimed solemnly in pre-school that “Pan was dead” (a reference that thankfully her teacher didn’t understand but had resulted in a headache-inducing conversation for Paul).

In comparison, babysitting with Rachel was essentially one long arts and crafts session. Finger paintings completely covered the fridge by the time Estelle was three. They’d repainted the mural on Estelle’s bedroom wall about four times by the time she was ten, with each rendition more fantastical than the last. Occasionally Sally regretted the afternoons spent writing with Rachel over once she discovered the paint covered mess that once had been her daughter, but overall with the sound of laughter echoing through the house (and only one minor prophecy), she supposed things could be a lot worse.

On days where snow piled up outside their window, but Estelle adamantly refused to wear anything but a swimsuit and a feather boa, Paul frantically phoned Piper. She was at the top of a very short list of people who could make Estelle dress appropriately for the weather. No one was sure if it was a form of diluted charmspeak or just Piper’s knack for finding outfits that technically could be worn in public but still fit the (unfashionable) vibe Estelle was going for.

Tyson was never allowed to babysit Estelle by himself, but he made up for his clumsiness and general lack of knowledge of human safety measures with an excess of enthusiasm. He took to having a baby sister so well that no one really bothered to explain that technically the two of them weren’t related. Still Tyson’s one eye seemed just as normal to Estelle as his hugs or extremely calloused hands.

Nico really wasn’t her babysitter. He would stop by the apartment looking for Percy or Sally, but would end up staying because Estelle had him wrapped around her finger. The first time they’d met Nico had come over with bad news regarding Apollo’s quest. Estelle couldn’t actually remember what had happened since she was so young, but Sally liked telling the story, complete with pictures, so Estelle knew it by heart anyway. Percy hadn’t been home yet and since he was with mortals working on a group project, Iris messages would have been a no-go even if the cosmos weren’t trying to prevent demi-god communication. So Nico had sat on the couch in the living room occasionally pestered by Sally’s “Are you sure I can’t get you anything to eat?” and “You look tired, sweetheart. You have time for a nap if you want one.”

In the end, Nico hadn’t gotten that nap because he’d been greeted by tiny hands pulling themselves upright on the couch cushion next to him. Estelle’s face had been alight with mischief that Nico would have previously sworn was only possible from a child of Hermes. Her black curls swung wildly around her as she wiggled her way onto the couch and into Nico’s lap. Estelle made herself comfortable while Nico looked ready to throw up. At fourteen, he’d fought in two different wars, but one crawling 10-month-old seemed to be enough to break him. As Estelle grew older, her little chants of “Nico! Nico! Nico!” had so much power over the boy who wanted a family more than anything else in the world.

Annabeth was one of her most frequent babysitters. She practically lived at their apartment when she wasn’t at school, or helping her cousins or the camp. She did keep Percy from giving into Estelle’s every whim which wasn’t ideal, but Estelle could deal with eating a full plate of vegetables if it meant hanging out with Annabeth. Unfortunately, Annabeth did not share Estelle’s undying love for all things Little Mermaid and often muttered “Seaweed Brain, I don’t know how but this is your fault. If I have to hear Under the Sea one more time, I’ll-“ under her breath whenever just watching Disney movies was suggested. So spending time with Annabeth often meant playing with Legos, creating a disjointed collection of buildings. Mini replicas of New York landmarks would be dwarfed by uneven towers because Estelle cared more about height than stability, aesthetics or really any other architectural principle. When Annabeth entered school, she was less inclined to spend any bit of free time still thinking about architecture. So she gave Estelle a little potholder loom and taught her the basics of weaving. Sally had ended up with more neon-colored monstrosities than she knew what to do with, but the girls could spend hours in relative quiet, so it seemed a small price to pay.

And then there was Percy, the biggest hero in Estelle’s eyes. Her love wasn’t like the hero-worship of new demigods, who idolized him for defeating the Titans, surviving Tartarus, or going on countless quests. Estelle believed more than anything else in the world that her brother would be there to catch her whenever she fell and there was no monster he couldn’t beat.

Even before she could walk, Estelle had seen her brother’s powers. Some things were easy to miss, like the way Percy could wash the dishes without getting wet at all, but others stood out to her. The waves at Montauk had calmed so he could teach her how to swim but were quick to come back to life if anyone stared too openly at Annabeth or his mom. While Annabeth built elaborate sandcastles, Percy added fantastical moats and laughed as Estelle roared like a minotaur to tear it down. He could hold his breath forever, which seemed awfully unfair the first time Estelle had tried to swim underwater and ended up with a mouthful of saltwater. Percy was always willing to translate for the fish at the aquarium, although Estelle was pretty sure he did the funny voices for her benefit. When Percy had landed Blackjack on their apartment’s roof after being called back to camp for an emergency, he had translated for his old friend too. Estelle loved those translations the most, even if they weren’t entirely accurate.

“Seriously, Blackjack, can you cool the language around my little sister?”

By age five, her older brother had bought wooden swords for the two of them to practice in the living room. Percy kept the moves simple, demonstrating before lightly wrapping his fingers around her tiny wrists and guiding her through the movements. Estelle would copy them intently with her nose scrunched up and her tongue stuck slightly to the side in concentration. They focused primarily on defensive strategies, but still had practice fights where Percy pretended to die dramatically.

“I don’t think this is a good idea Percy,” Sally had said after they broke their second lamp.

“Mom she can see them. And as long as I’m around Stella will always be a target.”

There was an unspoken promise in his words. I’m always going to be here Mom. I’m still alive, but I can’t lose anyone else, especially not my baby sister.

Estelle hugged her mother’s leg tightly, looking up with pleading eyes. “Please Mom I’ll be careful.”

Eventually, Paul signed Estelle up for fencing lessons because there had to be a better way to teach her to fight that didn’t involve the two of them wrecking the living room every time Percy visited. And if the way, allowed Paul to share his old fencing passion with his daughter, all the better. The living room still ended up with the furniture pushed to the side on a regular basis though because Estelle needed to demonstrate everything she’d learned for her big brother.

When Tyson had come to her sixth birthday party, his present had been a small bronze sword that transformed into a charm bracelet so Estelle could always be prepared. He’d look so proud and Estelle kept touching it reverently, but Sally had not been amused. She had wanted her daughter to grow up safe from this madness, even if she knew that wasn’t entirely a possibility. It was bad enough to have one child constantly in mortal peril and disappearing on dangerous quests.

“It can’t even hurt her; it’s celestial bronze. The first time I met Rachel I ran her through with Riptide and she’s still fine.”

Rachel flicked her red curls over her shoulder. “Worried for your sanity, but physically fine.”

Neither of them was as reassuring as they thought, but Estelle did get to keep the sword for emergency use only. This was after all a world full of monsters as well as heroes.

**Author's Note:**

> I can be found on Tumblr at both: thecompletebookworm (main account) or sonofsallyjackson (Riordenverse account). I'd love to make friends


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